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Message from the City Arts Officer
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It’s that time again when everyone looks back and looks forward. No one would disagree that, in keeping with all Dubliners, it’s been a very challenging year for The Arts. Positive initiatives are also blossoming though not least in the amount of new collaborations partnerships and generosity that have developed and I know will bear fruit in 2013. The LAB has a really gorgeous exhibition that will be open throughout the Christmas break, except 25/26th/30th December and 1st January. This Swedish inspired installation by Veronica Forsgren entitled Ett Hem is a delight and closes January 5th. Following shortly after is Mick Wilson’s ‘some songs are sung slower’ which opens on January 18th. I am delighted to report that The Public Art Commission ANU Productions' Boys of Foley Street has been selected by Susannah Clapp, Theatre Critic of the Observer as one of her top ten theatre productions in 2012. And BOFS has also been nominated for the entertainment.ie ERIC award for Best Theatrical Production of the year. The Dublin Writers Festival Team is starting to produce exciting programming ideas and the Festival this year will be focused on The Temple Bar and Trinity College area. Invitation is the key to this year’s Festival in May 2013 as is reflection on Ireland’s role in Europe during our EU Presidency. My highlight for 2012 is my growing appreciation of all City Council is doing in the cultural life of Dublin in which The Arts Office plays its role. So whether it is ever expanding areas of Events and Tourism, the wonderful programme of events and exhibitions at Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, our beautiful green spaces looked after by the Parks department, our stellar Libraries and designation as Unesco City Of Literature, the dedication of Council staff of Sport Recreation and Play, Festivals and Community, International Cultural initiatives and City twinning from Beijing to Barcelona to Architecture and Design, it remains a great time to be involved in culture in Dublin. May I wish you all from everyone at The Arts Office a wonderful Christmas. Best Wishes
Ray Yeates
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| The LAB Gallery - Current Exhibition
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Ett Hem - New work by Veronica Forsgren
16th November 2012 - 5 January 2013
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Ett Hem 16 November-5 January The title “Ett Hem” which translates to “A Home” refers to the title of a book released by Carl Larsson in 1899 in which illustrations of their home and family life were published and distributed internationally. The bold decoration; the innovative use of colour, the modern furniture and textile design created by the couple became the model for Swedish domestic design. The Larsson ideal, unpretentious and family orientated, carried out in small light rooms economically furnished has come to epitomise Swedish style. These ideals fit in with modern conditions and life and had an impact on the creation of Folkhemmet, the People’s Home a social housing reform that took place in the 30s-70s, as well as IKEA, who reference the couple as a strong historical reference in their design. Their home can be seen in the context of the Art and Crafts movement and how in a time of great social change, solutions for improving and enhancing everyday life was sought through design and architecture. Parallels can be drawn with society today. It is interesting that in this volatile economic situation there has been an upsurge for sustainable living, do it yourself, crafts, going back to basics and TV programs promoting innovative architecture as well as relocating to the countryside. With many young families stuck in negative equity the home is again a contentious subject. The work in this exhibition celebrates the handmade, the colour and graphic designs found in Karin Larsson’s furniture and textile work as well as in Swedish folk art. Members from Swedish Women’s Education Association (SWEA) are displaying examples of their handicrafts in the upstairs gallery, reflecting the rich Swedish tradition of handicraft or “hemslöjd”. Rather than attempting to provide a unified prescription or theory to the complex relationship between art and craft, the show aims to bring people together, functioning as communicative gesture. This gestural invitation, through color, form, texture and shape; invites the viewer to enter a space and conversation, where this relationship may begin to further unfold. Artist Biog: Veronica Forsgren is a Swedish born artist and curator based in Dublin with a MA degree in Visual Arts Practices from the IADT, Dun Laoghaire (MAVIS). She has exhibited nationally and internationally, notably art@work (residency organised by Roscommon County Council Arts Office), Preponderance of The Small (The Douglas Hyde Gallery) and Apocalypse When? (Dublin Fringe Festival). In 2011 she set up and organised a contemporary art gallery for children as well as curated the main gallery space at the Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge Co. Kildare. Forsgren’s practice employs play as a method for exploring and learning, to better understand ideas of identity, location and social structures. Inspired by folk art, craft, religious iconography and popular culture the work is created using a variety of mediums such as performance, video, installation, sculpture, embroidery, costume making, painting and collaboration. Context and location is important in informing and shaping the work. Underlying the work is the wish to create socially engaging pieces that in a very subtle way can make an impact. For example the art works may encourage the audience to slow down and reflect, engage or smile momentarily, a tactic the artist refers to as “soft activism”.
Featuring work by invited members from SWEA (Swedish Women's Educational Association) in the First Floor Gallery.
16th November 2012 - 5 January 2013.
The LAB / Foley Street/ Dublin 1.
This exhibition is accompanied by a text by Dr. Lisa Godson.
www.thelab.ie
Gallery Christmas Opening Hours
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| The LAB Gallery - Upcoming Exhibition
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Forthcoming Exhibition in The LAB
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Free Geranium Day
Saturday 5th January 2013
Swedish Knitting
1-3pm Saturday 5th January 2013
Walking (with a buggy) in the City – Baby on Board
Artist seeks mothers with buggies to take part in a new artwork!
Has your experience of the city changes since you had a baby? Has your route through the city changed? Do you have interactions with other people because of your child and your buggy?
Artist Michelle Browne is inviting you to take part in a series of exploratory workshops for mothers and their buggies (and children). Over the course of 3 meetings the group will discuss a mother’s negotiation of the city and how having a buggy and a child changes the way we interact with the city and its inhabitants. The first meeting will take place on Friday 25th January at 11am at the LAB. Mothers, their children and their buggies are welcome to consider mother as ‘skilled pedestrian’. For more on Michelle's work see www.michellebrowne.net
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Schoolchildren name sculpture in Fr Collins Park
The Lord Mayor of Dublin Naoise Ó Mhurí, artist Alan Phelan and children from fourth, fifth and sixth class at St Francis of Assisi National School in Belmayne gathered on a freezing morning in Fr Collins Park in early December for the official naming of Phelan’s ‘Inverted Oil Rig’ sculpture. The work, which sits in the park’s lake, boasts alternative names devised by the students from St Francis of Assisi, which the children came up with at a special workshop facilitated by Phelan – so the piece now is also known as ‘Dobby Fin Millen Drill (Nightmare on Duck Street)’, in the great tradition of Dubliners coining nicknames for the city’s public art works. The Lord Mayor was a terrific hit with the children, congratulating them on their creativity and even allowing them a chance to quiz him about the job of Lord Mayor, his famous chain and what it’s like to live in the mansion house.
News from Anu Production's Boys of Foley Street
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Arts Office Intern - Anne Mullee
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Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m from Dublin and recently came back to the arts after living in London for some years and taking a detour into media, where I worked as a journalist and broadcaster in print media, the web, radio and TV. What are your qualifications?
Aside from my early art college years I have a diploma in journalism and a Master in Cultural Policy and Arts Management. How would you describe the responsibilities of the position of Arts Officer?
The Arts Officers here tend to take responsibility for different areas of Dublin’s cultural life if you like, covering everything from events like the Writer’s Festival to local music festivals as well as the works that's unseen which enhances and support the practice of artists, musicians and performers. I work with Sheena Barrett, who curates The LAB Gallery, and with the Public Art Manager RuairÍ Ó CuÍv. Assisting both might see me arranging the launch of a new public art work or coordinating a new exhibition in the gallery. It’s a wonderful variety of work, which I love. How would you describe a typical week/day in this position?
Everyone says there is no typical week and this is true! I might be mailing hundreds of invites one day and helping an artist install a show the next, it depends on what is happening. What do you like about working here at The LAB?
The team here is fantastic, with a great work ethic and terrifically supportive. It’s such good experience and never boring. There is also a real sense of being part of the cultural fabric of Dublin City, which I think is hugely important, as in many ways we are not great at appreciating what we as a city are good at. And we are good at the arts! What are those things that motivate you to do this job?
I really enjoy being part of the process that allows creative projects to happen, and on a more personal level I find it hugely satisfying when imagination meets expertise and the seemingly impossible becomes reality. What qualities are most important for an arts officer?
Patience, a creative approach to problem solving, an organised mind (but not necessarily desk) and the ability to listen. Tell us something about an art project you have worked on?
Gradcam’s ‘Food Thing’ feast to celebrate the Dublin Tall Ships festival during the summer was really interesting, as the artists designed a menu that explored the Dublin docklands and its history through food and the various ingredients’ connections with the city. It was so layered and so many things at once: history, art, food, collaboration, society, and conviviality, all on one hectic and brilliant evening! Does the Arts office encourage and facilitate innovation among artists?
Absolutely, and it helps when artists are already thinking about how they can resolve issues that might arise when they begin a project.
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| Artists Residencies - Albert Cottages
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News from Albert Cottages
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| Opportunities From Other Organisations
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Garter Lane Arts Centre OPEN CALL
Seeking exciting, innovative and fresh submissions for their 2013 project, FOH Space.
Arts Council Artist in the Community Scheme Deadlines for 2013
The deadlines for 2013 are: Thursday 14 March 2013 5pm and Monday 24 June 2013
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Twice yearly, the Arts Council offers grants to enable artists and communities of place/or interest to work together on contemporary collaborative arts projects. The scheme is open to artists from any of the following artform disciplines: architecture, circus, street art and spectacle, dance, film, literature (Irish and English language), music, opera, theatre, visual arts and traditional arts. The projects can take place in a diverse range of social and community contexts including arts and health; arts in prisons; arts and older people; arts and cultural diversity. The aim of the scheme is to encourage meaningful collaboration between communities of place and/or interest and artists. It is essential that consultation take place between the artist and the community group, so that both parties are involved in deciding on the nature of the project realisation. Group ownership of the art should be maintained at every stage. The Project Realisation may result in a variety of outcomes. The scheme is managed by Create the national development agency for collaborative arts in social and community contexts: There are two phases to the Scheme: Phase One Research & Development, is open to artists who wish to research and develop a project in a community context. Maximum time frame is 3 months. The maximum amount awarded in Phase One is €1,000. Research & Development/Mentoringis open to artists who wish to develop a community based project and who have identified an artist mentor they want to work with a during the research and development phase. The maximum award is €1500, which includes €500 fee payable to the mentor. Phase Two, Project Realisation, is open to communities of interest or place (or their representative organisations), planning a project of between 6 weeks and 5 months duration with a maximum award of €5000, and those who are planning a project of between 6 months and 9 months with a maximum award of €10, 000. For further information on application criteria and assessment, or to book an advisory session about the Scheme, contact Katherine Atkinson, Professional Development, 01-4736600 or email support(at)create-ireland.ie. Web: www.create-ireland.ie
Spraoi International Street Arts Festival 2013 - 21st Anniversary Festival
Open call for commission of new work
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Spraoi International Street Arts Festival stages its 21st anniversary event on August 2, 3 & 4 2013. Spraoi’s philosophy is informed by a passion to engage audiences with imaginative work by artists primarily, though not exclusively, in outdoor urban environments. Spraoi International Street Arts Festival invites proposals from Irish street artists, companies, and artists from other disciplines for the creation of a new work to be staged at Spraoi and other festivals in 2013. €5,000 will be made directly available to the selected individual/company to utilise at their discretion to develop the work. An additional €5,000 will be applied to the development process as agreed between Spraoi and the commissioned company or individual artist, depending on the selected work’s requirements. Spraoi envisages investing additional: time, personnel, premises and equipment. Submissions are invited as of December 2012 and must be submitted to Spraoi by January 31, 2013. The selected work will be announced in February 2013. Selection will be by, but not exclusively, Spraoi’s Artistic Director and a practitioner from abroad. Style Content: Recognising diversity of artistic expression, proposals are not limited by style or content. Proposals should, however, be informed by practical production and resource considerations. Submissions: Concepts, sketches, drawings or other submission materials to: Artistic Director, Spraoi Studios, Carrickpherish, Waterford. Or via: info@spraoi.com
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LINE-UP OF MUSIC, THEATRE, FILM AND ART UNVEILED FOR FIRST FORTNIGHT 2013 – IRELAND’S ONLY MENTAL HEALTH ARTS FESTIVAL
JANUARY 2013
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The First Fortnight festival is proud to announce the line-up for its 2013 programme of mental health-themed arts and cultural events, taking place during the first two weeks of 2013 and centered around Dublin’s cultural hub of Temple Bar. Following the success of the inaugural First Fortnight festival last January, First Fortnight 2013 is again using live music, spoken-word, theatre, film and visual art to create open discussion and understanding of mental health problems and challenge stigma. First Fortnight is also proud to announce the launch of the First Fortnight Centre for Creative Therapies, a health facility that aims to help homeless adults with mental health problems through art therapy. The 2013 First Fortnight festival is partnered by Amnesty International Ireland, Mental Health Reform and See Change, the National Mental Health Stigma Reduction Partnership. Amongst some of the artists taking part include contemporary British artist Stuart Semple, Irish Acts Le Galaxie, We Cut Corners, Róisín O, Kopek, actress Mary McEvoy and acclaimed theatre productions Silent, Solpadeine Is My Boyfriend & Box of Frogs. The full line-up can be viewed at www.FirstFortnight.ie Launching the official festival programme, Dublin City Arts Officer Ray Yeates said: “First Fortnight brings to the fore the healing power of creativity and cultural practice. Mental health difficulty is part of life and the Arts, as it does with many other issues, can express all of the complexity involved.” First Fortnight co-founder and project manager JP Swaine added of the line-up: “We hope people are as thrilled about this year’s line-up of events as we are. We were over-whelmed by the response we received to last January’s festival and believe that the festival helped trigger conversations about mental health problems that might not otherwise have occurred. “Again, we hope that people come to this year’s events to be entertained, but also to hopefully go into the year ahead touched by a really strong message about reducing the stigma that surrounds mental health. “We are particularly excited by the launch of the First Fortnight Centre for Creative Therapies and the growth of the organisation from an arts-based event to a fully-fledged facility helping vulnerable members of our society cope with mental health problems.” Amongst the highlights of this year’s festival will be:
Fishamble's acclaimed production of Pat Kinevane's award-winning play Silent, a touching and challenging story of a homeless man, who has lost it all – including his mind; Live sets by LeGalaxie, We Cut Corners, Kopek, Verse Chorus Verse, Vann, Róisín O, This Club, dREA, Dylan Tighe, The Man Whom and Chris Campbell; `Please Can You Make Some Noise For...Mental Health' - a panel discussion featuring British contemporary artist Stuart Semple and other high-profile speakers all with personal experience in relation to mental health; Acclaimed film Tarnation - US filmmaker Jonathan Caouette's award-winning documentary on growing up with a mother with schizophrenia; Solpadeine is My Boyfriend, the acclaimed one-woman play from stefanie Pressner and one of the standout hits of the 2012 Dublin Fringe Festival; Exhibitions from visual artists Glen Neath, Sinead McDonald and Melissa Lavender
Digital Biscuit - Enabling Creativity For Screen
24-26th January 2013 - The Science Gallery
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This coming January global film industry leaders including directors David Yates (Harry Potter) and Gareth Edwards (Monsters) will come together in Dublin to ignite the creative industry by focusing on Ireland’s capabilities as a creative and technological leader in innovative film and television production. The Digital Biscuit event will run a series of 20 programmed talks and technology expositions over three days on the 24th -26th of January 2013 in the Science Gallery. The public will also get an opportunity to engage with premiere product launches of latest cameras, tablets, computers and software. Director and Chairman of SDGI, Ciaran Donnelly (Vikings, Tudors) says “’This is an opportunity for directors to continue to embrace the future of the digital age”. Birch Hamilton, SDGI’s Executive Director said: “We want to enable creators in a digital age. Directors are the lifeblood of the screens, big and small. Irish directors are embracing the global opportunities that new technology is bringing to the industry, leading us into an exciting age of filmmaking.” Digital Biscuit is fully endorsed by SDGI members including Irish directors and board members Paddy Breathnach, Declan Recks, Lenny Abrahamson, Dearbhla Walsh, Conor Horgan, Liz Gill who have made some some of the most memorable Irish films of the last decade.
For more informations see: http://digitalbiscuit.ie/
New Year's Eve Festival
RADE New Year Exhibition in Smock Alley Theatre
07 January 2013
RADE’s exhibition of wood sculpture will be on show in the banquet room of the Smock Alley Theatre from 7th January 2013 for four weeks. The exhibition, titled ‘Cutting D8’ is a collection of work from people who either live or work in the D8 area of Dublin. The group began hand carving in December 2011. The exhibition features relief and in the round sculptures all based on the individual group members interpretation of Dublin 8. Their work was displayed for all to see in The Atrium Dublin City Council, Civic Offices. Cllr Jim O’Callaghan opened the exhibition which ran from Monday 17th Sept to Friday 28th Sept.
If you did not catch the exhibition in September this is a wonderful opportunity to see it.
Visit our web site to view pictures from the sculpture exhibition: http://www.rade.ie/news/current-news/cutting-d8-an-exhibition-of-wood-sculpture/
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| Funded by Dublin City Council
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